Thursday, June 5, 2014

I'm so glad you popped in to say hi and see what is happening here at RoseVignettes.

June's flower of the month is the Rose. In the language of flowers the Rose in general means some degree of love or desire. A yellow rose can mean jealousy or even a decrease in love.

Gasp!

The Rose of Lancaster, one of the oldest roses know to still exist can mean war.

In fact here is a little history for you (an excerpt from the Old Farmers Almanac) :

"The roses' links to antiquity are strong, which is why many gardeners love them.

The oldest rose planted today was in existence some 2,000 years before the birth of Christ. Rosa gallica var officialis migrated from Persia (Iran) trough Turkey to France and finally into England in time to be renamed 'Red Rose of Lancaster', which figured prominently in the Wars of the Roses during the 15th century. It's also known as 'Apothecary's Rose', because during the past thousand years it has been used by herbalists, including the fictitious Brother Cadfael (lead character in a series of books by Ellis Peters).

The intensely fragrant 'Desiree Parmentier', a Gallica rose, was named after the Frenchwoman who became queen of Sweden. As a young woman, she financed Napoleon Bonaparte's second campaign with her jewels after her father had refused his plea for money. When one of Napoleon's marshals was crowned king of Sweden, Bonaparte introduced Desiree to the king, who was in the market for a wife.

Souvenir de la Maimaison', first grown in Joesphine Bonaparte's Chateau garden at Maimaison, near Paris was beloved by Catherine the Great, who filled the Imperial Garden at St. Petersburg with these pale pink Bourbons. "

9 comments:

Wow, so much history behind the rose and very intriguing, indeed! Your white roses look so elegant nestled in all those pretty places around your home. I was so excited to be in Canada this spring, hoping to enjoy lilacs and peonies, but the ice storm did not grant my wish!

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